House of Candy
by Crash Hale
Summary: Did the evil witch lure little Alice to her house of candy? Did Edward dream it all up? Or is he seriously insane, sleeping with the woman who took his child's soul in order to remain young and beautiful? Who's soul will she take next? Rated M.


_House of Candy is very loosely based on the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. And obviously the Twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyer._

_House of Candy © Crash Hale 2010._

_Edited by the lovely obsessedmom._

_Warning, rated M for extremely dark themes, including sexual and mentions of less than natural death._

_Check out the banner in the gallery link on my profile._

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**House of Candy**

Staring down at the worn out book cover that used to be her favorite, I felt my eyes sting and burn. When I had asked why such a story would be her favorite she responded simply by stating that she _loved_ candy. Tears filled my dry eyes in order to try and ease the discomfort and my vision blurred. I sighed, placing the book down on the white nightstand and lifted myself off the small bed. I straightened out the pink sheets as tears ran down my cheeks.

Not able to stand the pain, I gripped the soft covers in my hands, destroying the neatness I'd just achieved as they clenched into fists. I fell to my knees heavily and pulled the covers to my face, wishing they still smelt like my little girl. But they didn't, they hadn't in a long time. It had been five years since my precious Alice slept here, safe in her bed.

My sobs filled the quiet room as I cried into the fabric, so hard that I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe. How could a father breathe when he had no idea if his child still was? Where was my baby? Was she still alive? Or was she an angel?

So many unanswered questions.

If she was still alive, she'd be twelve years old. She would be well on her way to becoming a stunning young woman, and I would have missed out on all of it. All those five long years she and I could have spent together.

I took a deep shattered breath and pulled my face from the covers, dropping them from my hands and reaching for the photograph of Rosalie and Alice taken the day of Alice's birth. It sat next to the fairy tale book that told the story of a house made of candy and the wicked witch that used it to lure innocent children.

What a horrible story for a seven year old child to love.

I sighed and leaned back against the bed, gripping my hair with my free hand as I looked to the photo of the two I'd long lost.

I first met Rosalie when she was fifteen. Her parents moved in next door. I was twenty-one at the time, living here with my grandfather while I attended college. He was slowly dying and my mother needed someone to be with him.

Rosalie and I started seeing each other when she was sixteen, she tried well before that though, always wearing the skimpiest clothes on the market and finding reasons to come over. I finally gave in, figuring being with a sixteen year old wasn't as bad as with a fifteen year old.

We were happy for awhile, her parents liked me and I liked them. Well, they liked me until Rosalie became pregnant. She came to me a mess one night, telling me her period was beyond late and she was afraid to tell me before now.

I took her to my bed and tucked her in, telling her to rest and calm down while I went out to get some pregnancy tests.

I was freaking out too, but needed to keep my cool for her sake. I was older and I was the one to blame, she was way too young to deal with this and it was all my fault.

I grabbed a couple of different tests, not really understanding why there were so many choices and met Rosalie back at my place. I waited while she went to the bathroom until she told me to come in.

I held her hand while we waited for the sticks to turn a color, any color. It felt like hours before they both showed a purply-pink color and confirmed we were indeed having a baby.

Her parents freaked out, suggesting an abortion and calling me every name under the sun. I begged Rosalie not to listen to them and she took time to decide what she wanted.

When she came to me with her decision, my heart broke. She said her parents were helping her look into adoption and this time I freaked out.

I was not the type to give away what was mine.

As the pregnancy progressed, I convinced her not to do it, told her that I wanted this baby. I told her I'd look after her and we could be happy together.

Her parents, angry with her choice to stay with me and apparently ruin her life, moved again. They were cruel when they told her that when she realized what a big mistake she'd made, they weren't going to be there to fix it.

So the time came and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with a head full of brown hair just like her daddy. The moment I saw Rosalie's eyes, my heart fell.

She watched the baby in her arms, scared and regretful. She handed her to me and turned away in tears.

I figured she needed time. After she was cleaned up and put into her room, she took the baby again, watching her without a sound.

I kissed her and told her everything was great, we had a beautiful daughter. I asked her to pick a name and she told me she wanted whatever I wanted.

I named her Alice after my grandmother.

I could tell Rosalie was unhappy as the weeks passed, and tried getting her to talk to me. I even had someone come to the house twice a week, but nothing helped.

Grandfather passed away in his sleep that coming fall. Alice was eight months and growing beautifully. We buried Grandfather and my whole life fell apart that same night.

Rosalie told me she was going to put Alice to sleep, and I sat in the living room, nodding at her and offering a small smile. Knowing he was dying for the last two years didn't help ease my pain now that it had happened.

Alice was crying pretty loud that night, and I wondered why Rosalie was having such a hard time with her. When I went to check on our daughter, I found her alone in the crib. I lifted her into my arms and rocked her back to sleep, wondering where Rosalie went.

Once Alice was asleep again, I went searching the large old house for Rosalie. I finally came to the locked bathroom door, and leaned my head against it.

"Hey babe, you taking a bath?" I asked, that damn simply.

She didn't respond, and I sighed, wondering where the fun, flirty, and crazy girl that used to be Rosalie went. She was always depressed now, hardly ever talking unless I talked to her. I missed the girl that teased me every second of the day until nightfall came and we could be together.

She'd gotten lost somewhere along the way, and it was my fault, and I had no idea how to fix her. How to get her to come back to me.

"Babe?"

No answer. Why was she ignoring me tonight? Did I really deserve it after burying the only father figure in my life?

"What the fuck is your problem?" I asked, angry at the whole world and angry that my girlfriend felt like taking a bath when the comforting I needed was more important.

I tried turning the knob again, shaking the thing and pushing against the door. I needed her, dammit. I needed her to care for just fucking once.

The door flew open from the force I was putting on it, and the minute I saw what I saw everything changed.

She may have killed herself physically, but I was the one that drove her to do it.

I was meant to be the responsible one, the one that should have known better. The one that should have known that a twenty-two year old man keeps his dick in his pants when it comes to sixteen year old girls. I should have listened to her parents when it happened. I shouldn't have made her do what she didn't want to.

So I promised myself that Alice would be my whole life. I'd be good to her. I'd be the best dad in the whole world.

And for seven years, I was. I wasn't with anyone, focusing on only my role as a father. I didn't date or go out. I worked and I looked after my girl, I took her to her dance classes and school. We went on day trips to the beach and took walks through the forest behind our home.

She was my everything, my whole world. My little girl was bigger than life itself in my eyes.

And then, nothing. Gone. Lost.

I was working on my car in the garage on my day off and Alice was out in the backyard playing a tea party game with some of her dolls. When I went to check on her and see if she wanted something to eat since it was getting late, all I found were her dolls.

The whole town searched, for days, until it was called off and a mere few continued the search with me.

We didn't find her, and I still sometimes went looking deep in the forest, knowing she loved it when we went out there together, and considering none of the houses here behind the forest had any fencing, I knew she had probably gone in that direction.

My hands trembling, I smashed the frame down, the glass cracking before I lifted myself up and walked out of the room, down the hallway and into the bathroom.

I switched the light on and looked at myself in the mirror. I had no idea who I was anymore, my eyes always bloodshot and my hair a crazy untamable mess, my cheeks were hollowing out as I always lost weight around the time of the anniversary of her disappearance.

I turned the water on, reaching for the glass on the sink and filling it. I looked down, my hand still trembling as the glass filled with blood and the glass shattered, my firm grip cracking it. The now clear water splashed up at me and I felt the sting of the cut, right away sticking my hand under the cold water.

I studied the cut for a second, seeing it wasn't deep and ran from the base of my thumb to my wrist.

My body stiffened as the old doorbell rang out throughout the still house. I reached for a washcloth and squeezed it to my cut, leaving the bathroom and making my way down the stairs.

I pulled the door open to reveal Bella, dressed in an extremely light colored crème dress that hardly differed at all from her skin color, holding a plate of cookies.

I stepped aside and she entered, offering a sweet smile while closing the door behind her.

"I made too many cookies," she told me.

I stared at her. She knew I didn't eat sugar. But I knew she didn't come over to give me the cookies she'd baked at nine o'clock at night.

"Or maybe you don't want this." She held the plate out to her side and let it fall from her hand, the plate shattering into pieces against the hard wooden floor.

I watched her tug at the zipper on the side of her dress and pull it off of herself, standing before me completely naked in all the beauty she'd been blessed with.

"I know what you want," she said, her eyes burning into mine as she stepped closer and began to undo my belt buckle.

I dropped the washcloth and helped her in removing my black t-shirt quickly.

"You want me."

And just like that, her sweet voice telling me I wanted the young woman before me, I pushed her back against the door, stepping out of my pants and boxer briefs.

Bella had moved in next door about six months ago. She was twenty-four, eleven years younger than me, and without a care in the world. She was an insanely crazy lay and I wasn't only saying that because she was the only girl this whole time.

Being with her was like stepping out of the whole universe and into somewhere sinful that was fueled by the darkest desires imaginable.

I gripped the back of her thighs roughly and lifted her against the door, spreading her legs open for me as she held onto one of my shoulders, reaching between us and guiding me to her core.

I thrust into her forcefully as soon as her hand was away and groaned at her tightness as she screamed out then hissed a low, "Yes."

I kissed her neck as she threw her head back, grazing my teeth over her soft skin and wanting nothing more than to bite down into her flesh so she'd bleed and the red liquid would spill down between her breasts, dip into her navel and continue down to where I was taking her.

This is what I meant when I referred to it as crazy. I'd never had such strange thoughts before in my life. I pushed them away with a growl, focusing on the feel of her finger nails digging into my shoulders and pounding her sweet pussy.

She gasped and screamed my named as she came forcefully and I continued all though it. I pulled her from the door and lowered us on the floor.

She smiled and pushed me onto my back, placing her hands on my chest as she began to ride me, pressing down deeply then rolling her hips against mine.

I gripped her hips and felt down her thighs with the same force, looking down to see her hip and thigh were smeared with my blood.

Her pale skin yellowed and everything around me turned black as sagging skin, rotting teeth and thin gray hair appeared, scaring the shit out of me before it all cleared when she spoke.

"Tell me you want me."

Her radiant glowing skin, thick luscious dark hair, and lust filled eyes returned and I forced myself to watch the beauty fucking me on the floor and doing a damn good job of it. I had to fight not to come every time I was with her it felt so damn good. Too damn good, it almost hurt. But I couldn't get enough.

I gripped her hips again, thrusting up into her, and made her scream again as I rolled her over and onto her back, the force making her whimper.

"I want you," I told her.

She took my injured hand and kissed it, the blood reddening her lips further then moving it down to her breast until I gripped on tightly and began my thrusts again, kneading her perfect flesh.

She threw her head back, licking the blood from her lips and moaning. I moved my hand to her throat and held it tightly, her eyes locking with mine as her brow slightly frowned. Her body tensed with another orgasm and she gasped for air before I let her throat go, sticking three fingers into her mouth and hooking my other two down below her jaw.

Her wet tough licked my fingers before she bit down, her teeth feeling so sharp that they almost made it feel like she was cutting down into my bones.

With another thrust I came inside her, pushing in a few more times as she moaned.

My hands began shaking again as I pulled away from the young woman spread out naked against the dark wooden floors.

Her long hair was fanned out around her head as she had her eyes closed contently, breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling.

I wondered how I could do something so horrifying as cover her in my blood. Her jaw, neck, breast, hip and thigh were painted with it and I looked to my hand to see that I was still bleeding.

Bella was smiling and looking at me when I met her eyes again. I lifted her gently into my arms and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, snuggling her head against my shoulder as I carried her up the stairs.

I took her to my bedroom and laid her down on top of the covers, "Be right back," I assured.

She closed her eyes and nodded with a little smile.

I grabbed a pair of pajama pants and quickly pulled them on before walking to the bathroom. I turned on the water, watching it flow over the broken glass for a split second then washed out my wound.

I reached for the first aid kit below the sink and put some A&D onto it, making quick work of wrapping it with a roll of gauze.

I then grabbed a bowl from under the sink and filled it with warm water. I kept buckets and bowls in this bathroom for when it rained and the house leaked because it was beyond ancient. I grabbed a clean washcloth and made my way back into my bedroom.

Bella gave me a smile as I sat beside her and put the bowl of water on the nightstand. I used the water and washcloth to clean the blood from her white skin gently and slowly. She moaned towards the end when I brought the damp washcloth between her legs and cleaned our combined liquids from her, but other than that she didn't say a word.

I helped her under the covers and joined her, falling asleep too easily when she was in my bed.

That night I dreamt of Alice in the forest, following after a young woman in white with flowing dark hair. No matter how fast I ran or how loud I yelled for her to stop, they were always too far off and paying me no attention.

Alice finally reached the angelic woman, who then pulled her up in her arms and kissed her cheek. When she turned to me I saw Bella's beautiful face, sudden quick flashes of the yellowing saggy skin, rotting teeth, and thin gray hair appearing before they were gone all together and Bella turned with Alice in her arms, walking away.

I jerked awake, in a sweat and turned to see an empty bed beside me. I sighed and rubbed my face with my uninjured hand.

I pulled myself out of bed and walked over to the window, looking outside and catching something towards the side in the Whitlock backyard. It was little Jasper. I knew his mother Maria got him ready for school and let him play out on the swing set while she got ready herself.

I smiled when I saw Bella standing next to him, dressed again and looking fresh even from this distance. She'd probably gotten up before me and gone to sit out on the back deck with a coffee as she sometimes did, and gone to join Jasper while he waited for his mom to take him to school.

As I said, we didn't have fences so all the houses were sort of like one big backyard before the edge of the forest.

I yawned and rubbed my face again, running my fingers through my hair. I checked my cell to make sure I didn't have any calls before making my way down and getting a cup of coffee and stepping out back to join Bella.

I frowned when no one was to be found, and shrugged, taking my seat in one of the chairs. Bella was probably inside with Maria and Jasper, I was sure she'd join me soon, her coffee was sitting on the back table, now joined by mine.

I let the hot liquid soothe my throat and closed my eyes, enjoying the unusual warmness of the air this morning.

Maybe I'd ask Bella if she wanted to go to dinner tonight. A normal date, instead of just fucking her every other night on all possible surfaces of my home. She deserved better.

"Jasper!"

I opened my eyes to the sound of Maria's voice from next door and looked in the direction, seeing the woman step outside.

"Jasper, come on! I don't have time for hide and seek! I need to get to work!"

My ears began ringing as I stared at her in shock.

"Edward?" she called my name.

"Morning, Maria," I respond.

"Good morning. I'm sorry, but did you see where Jasper ran off to? I'm late taking him to school and getting to work," she sighed, exhaustedly.

I knew it was hard being an only parent and could relate, more than she knew.

"I'll help you look," I offered.

She thanked me and went around the house. I walked next door to Bella's, thinking maybe they might have gone in there. Bella's back door was open so I made my way inside, searching the house to come out empty.

What the hell was going on?

Maria was clearly worried when I met up with her out back again. Tears had already started to streak her face.

"I don't know where... Oh, god,"

"It's alright, Maria," I assured, my voice anything but truthful right now. My body was weak on the inside, the memory of this exact thing happening to me five years ago way too fucking strong.

"Go inside and call Charlie, I'm just going to go inside and throw some clothes on. I'll be right over."

She nodded and went quickly on inside as I instructed. I went back into the house and threw a t-shirt and jeans on before meeting Maria at her house and continuing to help her look.

Chief Swan was over in a few minutes and comforting Maria, telling her the others were on their way to help.

Hours passed searching the town and the forest, until nightfall came and we were still out searching, spread out so we could cover more ground.

"Daddy," the damn trees whispered to me and I froze. My eyes stinging again and my hands trembling as I looked around.

"Fuck," I whispered, knowing I was going crazy when I mistook the breeze rustling the tree branches for my long lost daughter's cry for daddy.

My whole fucking life was way off. And where the hell was Bella! A child disappearing was one thing, but a grown woman...

None of it made any sense.

I heard Charlie and some of the others yelling out to each other through the forest and continued to search alone silently, going deeper and deeper until all really was silent.

My tears flowed freely, feeling like I was reliving the day I'd lost Alice together with the night I'd lost Rosalie. It was too much, and I dropped to my knees again, sobbing like the pathetic human being I was.

Laugher rang out and my head quickly shot up in time to see little Jasper. I quickly stood and followed in the direction he seemed to be going in too damn fast for a six year old.

"Jasper!" I called.

More laugher and a soft tune being hummed filled the forest around me.

"This way, sweet boy," her voice instructed. "Come with me."

He giggled again and I looked around, frantic to find where the hell he was.

I stood in shock when they both suddenly appeared. He was looking up at her with the biggest smile ever as she took his hand into hers and turned to begin walking.

"Hey!" I yelled, running after them.

He laughed and she hummed the same tuned over again.

"You're going to love it," she told him.

"Can I really have all the candy I want?" he asked with almost a hopelessness to his voice.

"Isabella!" I screamed, knowing it was her. It was her all along.

She stopped suddenly and turned, glaring at me before smiling back down at the boy who only had eyes for her. She leaned down and lifted him into her arms.

"Don't you fucking dare!" I screamed at her.

She spoke softly to him, "You ready?"

He nodded and nestled his head into her neck.

I stood in awe, not knowing what to do when a huge house suddenly appeared before us in the middle of the damn forest. I had to be mad. It was bright pink and orange, covered with every cookie and candy you could think up. And more.

This was not real.

She walked on ahead, and the two of them, along with the house made of sweets, vanished before my eyes into the darkness that was the forest.

The whole scene before me began spinning out of control and the next thing I knew I was awakening on the floor of my daughters bedroom, her favorite book by my side and my heart racing as I sat up, opening the book to reveal a drawing of a wicked old witch with yellowing saggy skin, rotting teeth, and thinning gray hair before a bright pink and orange house made of cookies, candy, and every treat ever known to exist in a candy store.

I was going crazy. Having the most vivid nightmares ever.

"Edward," I looked up to see Charlie standing in the doorway, "You alright? What are you doing in here?"

I frowned at him, "What are you doing here?"

"Sam found you passed out in the forest. We brought you back here and put you in your bed, I've been downstairs making some calls to the stations in the nearby towns, hope you don't mind but I wanted to be around and make sure you're okay before I went on my way again."

I was still confused. "What happened?"

"You were looking for Jasper."

I swallowed, unsure of what was real anymore and that scared me more than anything.

"We still haven't found him. Billy's at the station with Maria and everyone is still looking. Get yourself a shower and get some rest. Call Renee if you need anything, she's at the house making food for the search party."

"I'll be back out to help in one second," I answered.

He shook his head, "When you're rested, Edward, I know this is hard on you because of..." he trailed off and looked around the room. "It's just that no one expects you to do anything. They understand if it's too much on you to be out there looking like we did when little Ali..."

My breathing picked up and I stared at him in fury.

"Just rest up."

His footsteps faded as he walked away and down the steps. I heard the front door close before a chill ran down my spine and I heard her sweet voice whispering against my ear, _I know what you want... Tell me you want me... This way, sweet boy... You're going to love it._

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_Author's Note -_

_I'm interested in seeing if anyone has any different theories than I originally thought up myself for this story. Let me know what you think this story is about and what you took from it._

_While writing this I actually had a few things in mind that it could be. To me it's really a combination of a few things because I want people to take away whatever they want from it. If you're interested in my original theories, they are as follows._

_Original House of Candy Theories_

_1 - Parts of it are dreams, or the whole thing is a dream, having read Alice's book so many times it's just in his subconscious._

_2 - Edward is seriously mentally ill after losing his girlfriend and child in such tragic ways. He's dreamed Bella up as the evil witch and placed the blame on her because he feels so guilty himself._

_3 - Bella is an evil witch who lures children with sweets and then eats their souls to stay young. The flashes of the ugly witch Edward was seeing was because she had gone a long time since a feeding and was desperate for Jasper's little soul. This is the supernatural part of the story that is honestly my favorite theory. She has evil powers and her house made of candy is on a different plane of existence, only appearing when she needs to get to and from it. She wants to be wanted by Edward and easily casts spells that make him the way he is. But because deep down Edward is good, he has feelings for the beautiful woman next door, and in turn feels badly for using her and not doing right by her._


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